AN UNFUNNY JOKE TOLD DAILY: "Man in his 90s Dies"

PANDEMIC WRITINGS, Melbourne, Australia (2020-2022): piece originally published August 2, 2021

I have a joke for you.

It is not particularly funny.

So, a ‘man in his 90s died after contracting COVID-19.’

This trite introductory line to a now common "joke" reads as the equivalent of, ‘so, a man walks into a bar…’

During our 111-day staged-lockdown, Victorians heard this joke daily. Now, they are enthusiastically telling it to those currently held captive in New South Wales: prison humour?

Alas, yet another misclassified “COVID mortality,” a personal loss for the family directly affected; but, moreover, a continued “loss” for all NSW residents who are currently being forced to acknowledge this fake statistic to justify their home imprisonment.

So, COVID supposedly killed this man…

Surely, his death was not due to him having lived a statistically long life and having unfortunately found himself at the mercy of time, the “mortal coil,” and the negligence of the ‘aged care ward’ who would be eager to receive a lucrative government bounty for signing-off on a “COVID death?”

Surely, not?

What about the fact that he had already received his first dose of the immune compromising, health jeopardising, and life threatening vial of AstraZeneca’s final-solution? Might that have been a contributing factor?

Surely, never?